Volunteers keep Tiger Stadium site ready for ballgame

May 12, 2013

Cristina Pappas of Birmingham mows the lawn as the Navin Field Grounds Crew clears weeds and trash from the Tiger Stadium site. The crew is motivated by memories of seeing games at the stadium years ago. / Kathleen Galligan/Detroit Free Press

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Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

The Navin Field Grounds Crew cleans up the Tiger Stadium site before indulging in cake and baseball on Sunday, May 12, 2013. The group has been cleaning the site for three years. / Kathleen Galligan/Detroit Free Press

Want to pitch in?

To celebrate their work, Sarah Aittama, 39, of Redford Township cuts cake for the crew. Waiting to dig in are, from left, Tom Derry, 50, of Redford Township, and Jerry Bagierek, 63, of Douglas.

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When Tom Derry visited the Tiger Stadium site three years ago to play catch, he didn’t like what he saw: tall grass, scattered garbage and overgrown weeds.

“It was hard to tell that it was a baseball field,” Derry said.

The 50-year-old mailman from Redford Township found the field in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood, where he watched his first Tigers game in 1971, to be an eyesore and aimed to change that by returning to the site three days later with friends to start cleaning.

“We basically brought back a baseball field from the dead,” he said.

On Sunday, a small but loyal group of volunteers known as the Navin Field Grounds Crew celebrated the three-year-anniversary of their efforts. They mowed, pulled weeds and cleaned grass from the infield — just like they do every Sunday starting at 10 a.m.

Jerry Bagierek, 63, started helping about two years ago and has since moved to Douglas, on the state’s west side, but he still returns to the site about once a month.

“My job is to keep the weeds out of the infield,” he said.

The field at Michigan Avenue and Trumbull is part of his family history, Bagierek said. He attended games there as a child and also brought his children.

“They didn’t get a choice, they were raised to be Tigers fans,” he said.

As he worked on the infield, Dave Mesrey, 44, of St. Clair Shores mowed the outfield. It’s a job Derry said he did until he was sidelined by an injury that happened while he delivered mail last summer.

“We need someone to pinch-hit for Tom because he’s on the disabled list right now,” he said. “I’m usually a garbage picker.”

Derry, who has been a Tigers fan since seeing the team play, said he and his friends have a lot of memories from games at Tiger Stadium and that keeps them passionate about making sure the field is taken care of.

“We want to keep the entire lot clean as a park that everyone can enjoy,” he said.